WHAT A WAY TO WRAP UP SUMMER!

On Saturday, September 16 QBG Members and guests joined staff on the QBG Farm for an intimate meal highlighting Farm grown produce.

The Membership Department has been growing its program over the past couple of years and during summer of 2017 hosted three Member-exclusive events: a Members’ Picnic in July, nighttime viewing of Taiwan: A World of Orchids in August, and a ticketed Brunch on the Farm in September. All three events were widely attended and were absolutely beautiful and enjoyable for all!

QBG Farm & Compost is part of the NYC Compost Project hosted by Queens Botanical Garden and funded by the NYC Department of Sanitation.

After enjoying a full spread of delicious vegetables, bagels, mimosas and more, the group got a private tour of the QBG Farm to see exactly where their food was grown (no bagels are grown at QBG).

Outreach Coordinator, Vanessa Ventola, took the group through QBG Farm and showed off its raised beds, which are full of herbs, corn, sweet potatoes, and young greens and root vegetables such as lettuce and beets.

Members sampling fresh fennel. This plant is a “volunteer”. This means its seed was not intentionally planted, but dropped off by wind, animals, or in some other natural ways. A beautiful herb, farmers have let the fennel grow to maturity.

The tour took a detour along the perennial pollinator border, which attracts ALL pollinators. We’ll take bees, wasps, butterflies, even flies! Many of the perennials double as food for caterpillars or as medicinal herbs. The tour wrapped up in the back part of QBG Farm, which is full of gorgeous eggplants, peppers, and okra blossoms.

Okra flower, a self-pollinating flower, will later yield okra fruit (look on the left side of the stalk for young okra).

Make your own QBG-inspired frittata for your next party!

Dairy-free Frittata Recipe: Feeds 30 – why not have the whole family over for a healthy and delicious brunch!

DIRECTIONS: Preheat your oven to 400° F. Chop and slice all the vegetables. Try to make them as uniform and thin as possible. It will help all veggies cook properly. Oil your pans – we used two 20″x 12″ pans for our group. Put the vegetables and herbs into the bottom of the pans, making sure to share them evenly between the two.

Now it’s time to prepare the eggs! Crack open 2 ½ dozen eggs into a large mixing bowl and use an electric hand mixer or a whisk to mix them, adding garlic powder, onion powder, and salt & pepper to taste. Pour over the veggies and herbs in one pan. REPEAT for the second pan.

Place the pans in the oven and bake the Frittatas for 35 to 45 minutes until they are firm in the center. Cut them into as many pieces as you like – 15 from each pan gives a hearty serving; we cut ours into 24 smaller pieces per pan.

This frittata can be served hot, warm or room temp. Some people even like it cold!